All That’s Left
August 13th is annually celebrated as “Left Hander’s Day.” Most Lefties, also known as “southpaws” due to the orientation of baseball stadiums in regard to the sun, are proud of their…
Minsk, Pinsk and Dvinsk?
Dvinsk, also known as Daugavpils or Duenaburg, is Latvia’s second largest city, situated 140 miles southeast of Riga, Latvia’s capital (Dvinsk is the city’s Russian name). Dvinsk became a…
Kiss the Mezuzah
One might easily think of the mitzvah of mezuzah as a passive mitzvah. Simply recite the blessing before affixing the mezuzah to the doorposts of the house, and it is done. While affixing…
Jerusalem Day–Yom Yerushalayim
In 1947, when the United Nations approved the plan to partition the British Mandate of Palestine (Israel) into a Jewish state and an Arab state, they determined that Jerusalem would be an…
Rabbi Meir
The Mishna is a collection of citations of the oral law by an array of brilliant scholars. There are, however, many Mishnaic statements that are anonymous. According to…
Precious Creation
While there are many appropriate themes with which the Torah in Genesis 1 could have begun (Abraham, Mt. Sinai, etc.), it begins instead with a day-by-day description of the creation of…
The Best Type of Bagel
December 11th is celebrated as “Have a Bagel Day.” Jewish Treats has already covered the history of the bagel, the popular pastry favored in the U.S., Canada and the U.K. But, the term…
Seek the Answer
The Four Questions (Mah Nishtana - What makes it different?) is one of the most famous features of the Passover Seder. In Ashkenazi homes, these four lines are recited by the…
Jews in the Fold
Yesterday, November 11th, was celebrated internationally as National Origami Day. Origami is a compound Japanese term: ori means folding and kami means paper. Origami was created in the…
Countdown To Freedom
Americans begin preparing for Thanksgiving days or perhaps a week in advance. But when it comes to Jews and Passover, much more preparation time is needed.Jewish Tradition teaches that we…